Nintendo keeps feasting on TV ad impressions

Nintendo continues its domination of TV ad impressions, accounting for 65% of gaming industry impressions from February 16 through March 15 — though it’s worth noting that the most-seen gaming spot during this time period was PlayStation’s “Explorers,” promoting the PS5. In total, 13 brands aired 42 ads over 4,900 times, generating 782.9 million TV ad impressions, a 102% increase from the previous 30-day period.

GamesBeat has partnered with iSpot.tv, the always-on TV ad measurement and attribution company, to bring you a monthly report on TV advertising by the gaming industry. These are the ads, and by extension the games, that game marketers have been putting major muscle behind.

Below are the top five most-seen gaming industry TV advertisers from February 16 through March 15.

Nintendo aired 25 spots over 3,400 times, generating 509.3 million TV ad impressions — a 65.7% increase from the previous 30-day period. The most-seen commercial, with 103.7 million impressions, was “Cat Prints: Super Mario 3D World + Bowser’s Fury,” promoting the Switch. According to an iSpot Ace Metrix survey, this spot performed above average across all industries for aspects including watchability, likeability, relevance, and attention. Top emotional responses from surveyed viewers included “nostalgic,” “wholesome,” and “exciting.” Networks generating high impression-counts for Nintendo included Cartoon Network, Nick, and Disney Channel, while top programs included SpongeBob SquarePants, The Amazing World of Gumball, and Teen Titans Go!.

Second place goes to PlayStation, with 239.1 million TV ad impressions from three spots that ran 954 times. “Explorers” was its most-seen spot by far, with 225.8 million TV ad impressions. After watching a version of this spot, 30% of viewers responding to an Ace Metrix survey said that the visual scenes were the single best thing, and top emotions included curiosity and excitement. PlayStation focused on reaching a sports-loving audience, with top programming by impressions including SportsCenter, college basketball, and the NBA; top networks include ESPN, ESPN2, and Adult Swim.

At No. 3: GameFly, which aired four ads 304 times, generating 13 million TV ad impressions. Its top spot by impressions (8.7 million) was “54 & 77 Cents: Call of Duty: Cold War.” Top networks by impressions included Laff TV, Disney XD, and Nick Toons, while That ’70s Show, South Park, and Chappelle’s Show were among the top programs.

HandyGames takes fourth place, generating 12.9 million TV ad impressions from a single spot, “Explore Bikini Bottom,” that ran 76 times. This commercial aired only on Nick and Nick Toons, and top programming by impressions included Despicable Me 2 (the movie), The Loud House, and Alvinnn!!! and the Chipmunks.

MLB Advanced Media (MLBAM) Video Games rounds out the ranking, having aired one ad, “Play Your Way,” 33 times, resulting in 3.6 million TV ad impressions. The spot ran on only two networks, MLB Network and ESPN, during MLB baseball and MLB Tonight.